Sergio Aguero injury return is much needed for Manchester City

Sergio Aguero’s recent injury has resulted in a downturn in the form of Manchester City’s forwards (Picture: AP)

Manuel Pellegrini would have been cheered by the sight of Sergio Aguero returning to full training this week ahead of his side’s appearance in not only this weekend’s Capital One Cup final but a crucial period of fixtures across all competitions as City look to keep their quadruple hopes alive.

The reality too is that the return of Aguero is well timed, and much needed at a point where one or two questions have begun to be raised about City’s forward line.

For virtually the whole of the 2013/14 season, City have been a swashbuckling force in attack – raining goals along the way en route to hitting the century mark in record time.

This has coincided not only in Aguero’s absence through injury but a downturn in the form of his fellow strikers. Alvaro Negredo, the ‘Beast’ who has rampaged for the most part this season, appears to have hit the wall in his debut Premier League season, having played plenty of minutes and suffered a shoulder injury.

[Aguero’s] presence will go a long way in shaping City’s fortunes over the remainder of the season

No such injury worries for Edin Dzeko but he appears to be suffering a crisis of confidence of late, his miss at home to Stoke last Saturday the mark of a man lacking in conviction. One positive had been the return to fitness (finally) for Stevan Jovetic, but he lasted all of 12 minutes against Stoke having come on as a substitute with City searching for goals.

All of which means a greater emphasis is now placed on the shoulders of Aguero, a player whose importance to City is as great as any – shown in this article by Benjamin Pugsley over at Bitter and Blue. In the 2013/14 Premier League season Aguero is scoring at a rate of 1.26 goals and 0.42 assists per 90 minutes, converting on 42 per cent of his 2.94 shots on target per game. His rate of on-target shots is 50 per cent, and only Lionel Messi stands in comparison.

Of City’s 235 shots taken with Aguero on the pitch this season, he has either taken himself or created 46.74 per cent of them and scored 37.5 per cent of City’s goals scored whilst he has been on the pitch, all totals where Aguero ranks far higher than any other of City’s forwards.

Whether Aguero is fit enough for Sunday remains to be seen, and the hope is that he will feature at some point – but it is undeniably the case that his return and his presence will go a long way in shaping City’s fortunes over the remainder of the season.